1 The Game - Holmes Pt1
by Awatere11
Summary: Set after Cyberwoman. - . Jack sits looking at his archivist in the interrogation room as the rest of the team clean up the mess that was Lisa. Who still has secrets, who still wants to play the game? Jack learns that he is not the only conman with a good mask, not the only one hiding in plain sight and maybe ... just maybe not the only one not really playing by the rules.
1. Chapter 1

1

Ianto sat silently as he looked around the cold interview room.

How the hell did he get here?

Without Lisa, he wasn't even sure who he was anymore.

He let his head fall back as he stared at the ceiling, counting the water stains from the level above.

He sighed and let the fingers of his right hand slide up his left wrist and fondle the scars running down the inner forearm.

His medical records said these were from a weevil attack in his early time at Torchwood, the reason he was moved to the archives and off active duty.

He was quite proud of that piece of fabrication.

He had lost so much, been sacrificed for the better good. Gladly, he had given himself for the human race, forced to watch his brother calmly sign his death warrant and walk away before Torchwood took him.

He never had liked him, even when they were little.

When the baby came along, he all but disappeared as the two younger children bore a resemblance to their father's side of the family.

He had always been an outsider.

First blood for the family to prove their loyalty to queen and country. Blah, blah, blah.

If it wasn't for Lisa, he would have rotted.

When it all went down, when hell came to the tower, she had run to him. God, in the small interactions between them as she fed and cared for him like a good little handler, he had learnt something of worth.

Shame she hadn't learnt the number one rule.

He had hoped he would succeed. He is a man of his word and he promised he would move heaven and earth to try to save her.

In the end, this man. This fool who signed away his freedom for humanity almost destroyed the very thing he had sacrificed himself for.

He knew she was un-savable.

Maybe he always knew.

It did pass the time though.

.

.

.

 **Come on, who can guess his secret?**


	2. Chapter 2

2

Jack entered and slid into his chair, placing the file gently down so as not to spook the prisoner.

Owen had insisted he shower and change, take a moment or two to think before going crazy.

Jack noted that Owen had done the same with Ianto who sat in the most unflattering sweats Owen could possibly find, yet still looked cute with his wet hair.

"So" Jack sighed.

Ianto waited.

"Ianto Jones, what am I going to do with you" Jack asked softly.

Ianto stared back impassively. He had nothing to say.

What was the point.

Jack opened the file and looked down. Ianto took the time to watch the way his fingers curled around the corner of the paper, showing his discomfort.

The way his eyes were shuttered with fatigue and the slope of his shoulders showed disappointment.

Of all his marks, Jack hid the best and Ianto couldn't tell if he was disappointed in him or himself.

"We could make a deal" Ianto finally spoke.

Jack leaned back in his chair, waving his arms to show he was listening as Ianto leaned forward.

"Turn off the cameras, turn of the comms so Tosh isn't listening anymore and we make a deal" Ianto said softly.

"Really" Jack huffed, "What sort of deal?"

"For the next hour, in this room. Just you and me. For however long it takes" Ianto shrugged.

"What takes?" Jack frowned.

"Before you crack!" Ianto smiled and Jack blinked, then burst out laughing.

He couldn't believe this pup's stones.

"I'll tell you what Ianto Jones, you got a deal!" Jack gave the order to comply and then leaned forward, holding out his hand.

Ianto reached forward and clasped it on his own, maintaining eye contact as Jack looked on, then slowly realized Ianto had taken his hand without the clink of handcuffs.

The crunching of handcuffs locking had him looking down with shock as Ianto cuffed them together.

"Deal!"

.

.

.

 **Come on, you gotta know this one. If no one guesses correctly I will give a BIG hint next chap.**


	3. Chapter 3

3

Jack took a moment to regroup, then looked up at the impassive face.

He showed no fear and saw none returned.

"OK, clever." Jack said calmly, "I do have a key!"

"No you don't" Ianto smiled back, "I took it off your keyring months ago."

Jack raised an eyebrow with quiet admiration.

"Owen always unlocks the cuffs, or I do. You never look" Ianto smiled, showing a younger face.

"So you have it then, I take it. I told Owen to frisk you!" Jack laughed softly.

"He did and I don't" Ianto replied.

"Then how did you do it!" Jack demanded, surprised when Ianto chuffed with soft laugher.

"Come now sir, you of all people knows a magician never reveals his tricks!" Ianto winked.

Jack let his hand drop to the table, clasping Ianto's still.

With his other hand he flicked over the page of the file.

"So! Ianto Jones." He tried again.

"You don't have to call me that now"

"What?" Jack looked up.

"I never call you Jack. Always Sir. You like that, a little piece of escapism from the mask" Ianto canted his head, "I'm no more Ianto Jones than you are Captain Jack Harkness so let's put those masks down first."

"Ianto?" Jack was confused now as he watched the man change and lengthen, become more lean and … self-assured.

"Call me ford." Ianto said softly, "Ianto was such a dull boy."

Jack blinked.

"Short for Sherrinford but I never did like sharing! Hideous name. My parents didn't do much better with my siblings either!"

"Ford?" Jack tried it and found it fitted the man he saw opposite.

"I do like Jack, but he is a bit too withheld, for you." Ianto prompted, "Come now. We are both older than we appear, I am supposed to be about … god … fifty something. You?"

Jack gaped.

"Well Sir, you are much, much older!" Ianto purred.

Jack felt the first indicators of danger as Ianto's predatory smile appeared and the grip on his hand increased.

What the hell was this?

.

.

.

 **Well Done Jennifer, you picked it! Do you like the game?**


	4. Chapter 4

4

"So, this was all some sort of game?"

"I wouldn't say that" Ianto said softly, "I did want to save her. I promised. If she got me out, I would get her out. Those bloody things ruined my plans. I hate losing."

"So, you know my secret then!" Jack said as he leaned back and tried to ignore the warm hand in his own.

"I know a lot of secrets, sort of an occupational hazard, wouldn't you say sir" Ianto smiled

"Like what?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Like … Owen knits."

"Huh?"

"Tosh collects egg cups and Gwen hates the colour pink but can't tell anyone because Rhys brought her a pink rose on their first date and now continues to do so on a regular basis."

Jack snorted and rubbed his face.

"So, what about Suzie?"

"No, she caught me with that one. Lisa did take a bit of fussing on, you know." Ianto grimaced, "All I knew about Suzie was the weird support group and the horrid man called Max she had under her control."

Jack huffed with surprise.

"Sir, you've wasted a good ten minutes with this"

"So, Ford?" Jack hesitated, "Why Ianto?"

"I was being sarcastic" he shrugged, "My surname was misheard during the move between units and they thought I was called Jones. I found it amusing and they had such interesting accents. I especially liked the Welsh so I chose a Welsh name and stuck to it. Hence, Ianto Jones."

"So your surname sounds like Jones" Jack pounced.

"Yes Sir, do keep up" a posh English voice scolded and Jack snorted.

"How did you choose the name of a World War II pilot who died in battle the day after declaring his homosexuality at a little air raid ball?" Ianto asked and Jack opened his mouth to answer, then realized he was being lured in.

"Good try!" Jack snorted, "Oh you're good!"

"Thank you sir, I do try" Ianto grinned.

"I find you very trying at the moment!" Jack growled.

"You sound just like Crofty, he always complained that I was being too obtuse!" Ianto laughed.

"Crofty?"

"Yes. Mother hated his name being butchered like that."

"Your brother?"

"Yes, we never really … gelled. Little Locky was a delight though" Ianto smiled softly as he remembered his brothers then shrugged.

"Too bad! How old are they then!" Jack asked, "They age defying as well?"

"No! This was an accident with a chryo-chamber back in the day of the first retrofits. My family thought I had been killed on assignment and moved on, as you do. When I reappeared my little brothers were just teenagers. Lovely though." Ianto sighed, "My parentals could never quite accept me, looking like this when their little family seems so perfect without me. I'm afraid mother was a bit of a fluffer."

"So you were disowned?" Jack tried to guess, "You joined Torchwood to spite them?"

"God no!" Ianto laughed softly as he stroked the knuckles of Jack's hand, "I was sold to Torchwood in return for information on the 456."


	5. Chapter 5

5

"Those bastards?"

"Pity really, considering I already knew more than was ever written down, don't I!" Ianto canted his head as his blue eyes bored into Jack, "As do you."

"What do you mean?" Jack blustered.

"Well, we both know you were there!" Ianto snorted, "How do you think I wound up with my little ...er ... accident? I poked my nose into one dark corner too many."

"You know about the children" Jack whispered with horror.

"I tried to leak it, was placed in the freezer so I couldn't complete my mission." Ianto looked away, "They will be back. Those monsters found a weakness and they will be back to destroy us. Nobody wanted to know, not then and certainly not now."

"So that's how you wound up in Torchwood?"

"Do keep up man! I was sold to them, a commodity. My brother, Crofty, had found my frozen self and arranged my safe return. I was surprised, and delighted to find life still available to me" Ianto blanched and looked away, "until I found Crofty was in a bit of teenage bother with the establishment. Little beast was just as clever as I, it would seem. Another radical. Only way to protect the family name and Crofy's dream of a government posting was an offering."

Ianto's face grew deathly serene, "This little lamb goes baaaaaa."

"He sacrificed you to Yvonne in return for his … whatever … going away?" Jack gaped.

"He had managed to break into the torchwood servers, thinking it was a terrorist cell. Well, he found a lot more and then they found him. He didn't even flinch as he offered me up. The man who defied age." Ianto looked up at the ceiling and water stains, "You see, for some reason I've not aged since I fell out of that alien chryo-chamber thing. I heal and I go on."

"What is your name" Jack asked again, this time with growing wonder.

"I told you. Ford" Ianto looked back down and Jack saw defiance.

"So Ford, Crofty and Locky" Jack smiled. "Crofty was crafty?"

"Silly little idiot gave me up for information I already had. Probably more than he was paid for me" Ianto shook his head and looked forlorn for a moment, something Jack found he didn't want.

"I'll tell you want, you guess something about me and I'll guess something about you." Jack said, "Winner gets a question answered truthfully."

"Ooooooo, I like games" Ianto smiled again, easing Jack back into a comfort zone.

"OK, ummm" Jack examined the calm face that looked back with an expectant eyebrow raised as he tried to sort the small things he knew about this man.

Ianto sat, calmly riffling his own memory palace.

He had a lot on this man, but what to use.

Didn't want to tip him over the edge but he did want to win.

"OK!" Jack finally grinned, leaning back.

"You actually hate coffee!"

Ianto blinked and then started to snort with mirth as he shook his head, "No. Actually I adore coffee, I just hate that terrible blend you keep buying. You really should let me have more control over the food supplies. We eat too much shit as well, ever heard of a salad?"

Jack slumped back with a grunt of dismay.

"Oh, come on" Ianto crooned, "Don't sulk."

Jack looked at him through his lashes. He watched Ianto pout back at him and struggled not to smile. This was actually fun. Ianto was right. This game was better than the one they usually played.

"I'll give you another go, be content. I don't usually allow do-overs you know!" Ianto said gently, as he yanked on the arm to pull Jack forward again.

"Yeah?" Jack grinned, "OK. Red is not your favorite colour. It's mine on you so you ran with it"

"Oh, well done Boeshane boy!"


	6. Chapter 6

6

"How do you know that name?" Jack whispered.

"The face of Boe." Ianto smiled as he leaned into Jack's face, "Still a pin-up in my book!"

"Ian… I mean … Ford, please tell me what you know" Jack tried to stay calm.

"I found out how to escape my cell at Torchwood within the first two days. I managed to get into the archives and spent many a day reading files. Wonderful. I have an edidic memory, you know. All goes in here" Ianto tapped his forehead, "Into the memory palace."

"I have an entire wing on you. Their archivists were gormless buffoons who regularly misfiled and neglected to cross-reference. You have been around, as for your ex-partner John, oh dear. Let's just say he is very talkative after sex and I doubt there is a single Torchwood field agent who hasn't written a sexual harassment based report on that one." Ianto grimaced, "Some were quite detailed."

"Johnty? Oh Gods" Jack balked, "He found me?"

"Don't be silly. Your VMs are a matched pair. He always knew where you were. Yvonne was a nice distraction." Ianto snorted, "With T1 gone, how long do you think it will be before he pays you a visit, hmm?"

"By the Goddess!" Jack slumped, "I thought I would have more time."

"The twenty-first century, when it all changes" Ianto deadpanned, "Gotta be ready now Sir."

Jack looked up and saw a glimmer of amusement in Ianto's eyes as he parodied his favorite saying.

"You are quite cheeky, aren't you!" Jack finally said.

"One of my faults. I find it difficult to maintain the mask at times. Owen leaves himself wide open you know!" Ianto huffed as he leaned forward.

"Yeah. he is comic relief at times" Jack grinned, leaning forward so their noses touched.

"Boe, you are quite close" Ianto whispered.

"Yeah? What are ya gonna do about it Ford?" Jack whispered back so softly that it was barely audible.

"Oh god" Ianto's eyes flickers for a nanosecond and Jack saw hesitation.

"Tell me" Jack whispered with imploring eyes, "What is it? You are still holding back, what is it?"

"The chamber was yours" he finally conceded and Jack frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"The cylinder shaped tube they put me in, it was yours. You were connected to it somehow, all hush-hush but I found reference to you and the Doctor. Someone called Rose? Weirdly, she looked like the one running around the tower with the doctor." Ianto looked earnestly at Jack, "That's what they had put me in to keep me in good nick."

"The … the Chula tube?" Jack felt his balls shrivel.

"Yeah. It was like a bed in there, little lights and … a soft golden glow. I thought I would be in there forever."

Jack felt sick as he finally knew the reason for Ianto's longevity.

It was his fault.


	7. Chapter 7

7

Ianto had noted Jack's paling and decided to change the subject, he was enjoying this game and didn't want to go back to the serious, deadly one.

You won, remember?" he prompted, "A question?"

Jack looked surprised, then grinned as he remembered the deal.

"Oh yeah, I get an honest answer!" Jack crowed gleefully, and Ianto smiled at the childlike man.

"Ok, let me think. Gotta be a good one!" Jack leaned back and swiveled in his chair as he pondered.

Ianto leaned back and pondered as well.

Could he actually get out of this one?

Yvonne had never caught him out of his cell, Lisa suspected but never actually called him on it.

Of all the things he had learned, he had found that Yvonne had every reason to fear Jack Harkness, to avoid him at all costs.

He had enjoyed sending that hand to him, the many denied requests all neatly stored in one easily accessible file.

His forger's hand still in the game as he became the head archivist for a few minutes while filling out the necessary paperwork by hand, necessary for the computer to verify the request.

The hand print had been trickier without his kit but placing that box where it could be tripped over, thereby forcing a hand to slam down on a certain computer pad … well, too easy.

He could have shown her a thing or two, that Yvonne.

But she blew it on the first day they met, with her leering and crowing.

He never liked a show-off.

The enigmatic Captain Jack Harkness had been a real find, those files helping ease the boredom and he had even gone to sleep at night, dreaming of that coat.

Coats are damned fine things!

To meet him, work for him. Even as a simpering Welshman, he had been unable to hide the attraction and Jack's blatant flirting had been quite lovely really.

God, what the family would make of that one!

When he had failed, kneeling there in the blood and shit of failure he had thought himself finally done, but now he looked at his one-time mark and wondered.

"Sir?"

"Hmmm?" Jack looked up.

"Do you actually like my coffee or was that an act to make me feel better about it being so ghastly?" Ianto asked with wide eyes, showing his hope.

Jack blinked, then laughed softly.

"Gods, I do" he assured the young man, "I have never enjoyed coffee so much. To find that it could be better fills me with hope."

"It does?" Ianto said slowly, "Why?"

"I can't wait to taste your preferred blend."

Jack went back to pondering, unaware that he had answered the real question Ianto had been asking.

Am I going to remain?


	8. Chapter 8

8

"Got it!" Jack suddenly said, the last ten minutes of silence broken and Ianto jumped from his snooze, blinking as he focused on the eager face.

"Well?" Ianto said in a clipped English accent, "Let her rip then!"

"Boxers or briefs!"

Ianto blinked.

Jack raised an eyebrow as he jiggled in the chair and Ianto felt it bubbling up, the laughter vomiting from him even as he struggled to comprehend the question.

"Boxers" he finally managed to choke out.

"Really? Silk, right?"

Ianto nodded as he wiped his eyes, tears threatening as he continued to bray.

"I've never seen you laugh" Jack said softly as he watched, "By the gods you are pretty."

"Sir! That's harassment, is that!" Ianto giggled with Welsh vows returned.

"Awww!" Jack pouted, then grinned.

"Honestly." Ianto leaned in, "We're almost half way through our hour of peace from the minions waiting up top, come now. What is it you really want to ask."

Jack grimaced, looking at their hands then reaching his other for a firm grip.

"Come on Boe, ask" Ianto whispered.

"Did you see him?"

"Ah!"

Ianto leaned back and looked at the ceiling again.

"Briefly. He had two women with him, a younger and older version of each other. A bit gabby, very funny. Oh, he complimented my converse. I led them to the elevators and wished them luck, he took a moment to … sort of look at me … then took off" Ianto admitted, "Then I saw the Tardis. My god, she was gorgeous!"

"Yeah, Sexy is a thing of beauty, isn't she" Jack smiled.

"Sad though" Ianto swung in his chair and placed his feet up the wall as Jack blinked.

"You spoke to her?"

"Sort of. She was … well, humming. A sad tune. I felt quite sorry for her, I tried to comfort her, told her he was coming but she seemed so … well." Ianto swung back to face him, "Trapped."

"What did you think of him?" Jack asked, "The Doctor!"

"ADD? A bit eccentric, Aspergerish but also very damned arrogant, but in a childlike way. Reminded me a bit of … well, me!" Ianto grimaced, "So old but still so … bloody cheeky!"

"Yeah" Jack sighed.

"You will see him again" Ianto assured him, "He always revisits hot spots and that inviable lift stone as a prime refueling spot for the blue lady! He's parked there several times already."

"Why do you think I chose here for the base!" Jack huffed.

"And here was me, thinking it was the chippie around the corner!"

Jack laughed as Ianto winked and swung some more.


	9. Chapter 9

9

"What do you intend doing now" Ianto asked, watching Jack doodle on the notepad.

Jack shrugged mutely.

"Come now, you never do anything without an exit strategy!" Ianto snorted, "Neither do I!"

"Like what?" Jack looked up.

"Well, Retcon? A bit extreme."

"Or?"

"Well, I have several identities and disguises ready to go, even one that's a woman!" Ianto said with wide eyes.

"Oh, do tell" Jack leaned forward, "What's her name?"

"Willameina" Ianto said grandly, "Wills for short. I am a doctor of anthropology. So interesting, dusty though."

Jack blinked at the soft feminine voice and then grinned, "More!"

"Now, now young man!" Ianto chastised, wagging a finger, "A lady never shows her wrists, ankles or fake IDs!"

Jack slapped the table and snorted, "I had a woman one!"

"Yeah? What was yours?"

"Gilda!" Jack said, "I was a redhead. I don't see you as a redhead, oh gods, tell me she's blonde!"

"Long flowing locks that are a real bitch to keep in line" Ianto answered wriggling his fingers at breast level, "And terrible shyness."

"Ah, coy girls do get more help with things" Jack nodded, "Brings out the he-man in us."

"Exactly" Ianto agreed, "Wills once had her mark hold the door while she wheeled out his artwork, even helped load it in the car. Never once looked at it!"

"Artwork?"

"Monet. I loved his blue period" Ianto swung again.

"Blue? That your colour? Blue?"

"I love blue. Blue and silver" Ianto smiled, "crisp. Neat."

"I like blue too" Jack leaned back and swung as well, "But black makes my butt look so nice!"

"Well I can't argue with that" Ianto sighed, "You do have a delectable arse. I always wanted a good feel of that!"

Jack swung to look at him some more.

Really?


	10. Chapter 10

10

"What would you do?" Jack asked, "If you were me?"

"Probably kill you" Ianto said honestly with a grimace.

"Yeah?"

"Not just national secrets, intergalactic ones!" Ianto sighed, "Problem is, it probably wouldn't stick. I fell, at T1. The first time I snuck out of the cell. A ceiling panel gave way and I know I was falling wrong."

"So what happened?" Jack had a weird feeling he knew the answer.

"I think I died"

"Then there was a golden glow and you were OK?"

Ianto slammed his feet down and frowned at Jack, canting his head.

"Nanites. You know? Little Nano-bot things. That is what was in the capsule. It was an emergency pod from a Chula Ambulance. A spaceship?" Jack said slowly.

"So when they put me in there …"

"Some must have still been in there" Jack surmised, "Makes sense. Keep some back, not send the whole workforce out."

"Well now" Ianto huffed, "Isn't that a kick in the head."

"Yeah"

The two men stared at each other, then Ianto's face lit up.

"So, not only am I able to leap tall buildings in a single bound or whatever, I can fight the common cold?"

Jack laughed as he reached out and then raised his hand to look at the empty wrist.

"Been off for about fifteen minutes now slowpoke!" Ianto giggled.

"Look here you!" Jack growled.

Ianto's eyes were dancing with mirth and Jack found himself surging across the table, kissing him as his hands grasped his lapels.

He released him and Ianto sat shocked into silence.

"Well?" Jack panted, "Cat go your tongue?"

"Huh?"

"Ford? Do you not have a comeback for that?"

"No comeback, maybe a little bit of cum that escaped … wow." Ianto snorted, "Been a long time since I was … well."

"Jesus" Jack rubbed his hands on his legs.

"Where are we going with this?" Ianto asked suddenly, "Are you really just going to give me a bloody pass? Or are we still playing a fucking game! Ae you using my attraction to you as a weapon?"

Jack looked surprised as he pondered the answer.

"Well?"

"I don't know" Jack finally answered, "Are you?"


	11. Chapter 11

11

"I think it's quite clear to both of us that the time for games had passed" Ianto shrugged, "We both know more than is safe, for either party."

"Yet, here we sit." Jack shrugged.

"Ten more minutes" Ianto said softly, "Then Ford goes back in his box, along with Boe."

Jack considered.

"Does it have to be that way?"

"If my family knew I were alive they would make my life a living hell," Ianto laughed softly, "Both brothers are complete twats that would have poor Owen exploding with horror."

Jack chose not to speak, waiting for more.

"My brothers also have enemies that might not know that they don't care if I live or die" Ianto rubbed his face, "No. Sherrinford Holmes has to stay right where he is. Officially dead."

"So, Ianto Jones?" Jack canted his head, "Does he get a say?"

"Well, he still has some play, I suppose" Ianto agreed, "A bit of life left in this game."

"And your mark?"

"Oh Boe. If you haven't worked out by now that you stopped being a mark the moment we first kissed, then I don't know what to tell you."

"Not part of the deal?"

"You were always dangerous" Ianto snorted, "always the one thing I couldn't control. My desire was the Achilles heel of my whole plan."

"So, if we continue the game?"

"Can we alter the rules?" Ianto looked hopeful, "I can be the dutiful Ianto Jones for the minions, but at night, after dark so to speak …"

"Ford and Boe can have a little quality time too?" Jack wondered how far Ianto would go with this attempt to survive.

As if hearing his thoughts, Ianto's face fell and he sat back in the chair.

"Never mind" he said softly, slamming shut the door on that glimmer of hope, "Cold storage is it? I'm too dangerous to let loose and retcon doesn't work so … a bullet to the head might not work either. Back into a little box for me."

Ianto looked away, his fingers fiddling with a loose thread and Jack studied the slumped body.

"So, you ready for that?"

"Sure" Ianto rose and shakily pushed in the chair, "Only five minutes left. Wanna quick fuck? A blow job? Or do you just want to thump me a few times so the others feel better when you drag me up to the cold storage area and slap me in a drawer. I don't mind either way."

Jack blinked at the anger.

"It's OK Jack. This is where we both agree our masks are all we really have left."

Ianto picked up the cuffs and flicked them around his own wrists, then faced the door as the minutes ticked down.

His straight back, all Jack had left to look at.


	12. Chapter 12

12

Jack said his name softly, but Ianto didn't answer.

The door swung open and Owen strutted in, looking Ianto up and down for damage.

"He didn't hurt you?" he finally asked.

"Not physically, no!" the Welshman said and Jack winced at the hidden accusation.

"Right, I want to x-ray that shoulder now" Owen motioned and Ianto snorted softly.

"No need Owen, I'm going into cold storage with or without a bullet in my head, why should my dislocated shoulder bother you now" Ianto said softly as he took a step towards the door.

"Ianto" Jack found his voice.

Ianto took another step as Owen grabbed his arm to help him up the stairs, still demanding the x-ray or at least a bloody scan.

"Ianto!" Jack was louder this time as he rose and Owen stopped talking looking in his direction while Ianto looked stoically ahead.

"Ianto, please" Jack said softly, then turned to Owen, "We need another couple of minutes."

Owen huffed and stepped back, but folded his arms to show he wasn't leaving.

"Ianto, the offer stands."

Ianto blinked and then turned his head to look at Jack, cold and unemotional as he slowly blinked, "I don't know what you mean Captain Harkness."

Jack took it well, then turned to Owen, "I will be placing Ianto under house arrest, here in the hub. We will need to work out accommodation, a roster so staff are supervising and I will sort a reasonable punishment for this crap when I've had a chance to rest. My head is bloody killing me."

"Are you OK?" Owen asked, showing concern.

"She zapped me pretty good, can't seem to focus very well" Jack screwed his face up and rubbed his forehead, "Got a doozy of a head coming on."

Owen went into doctor mode and Ianto stood watching with open confusion. He had rubbed his head a few times, he had shown moments of pain. A trick? Or not?

Ianto canted his head and watched Jack do the same.

Ah.

The game was still on?

He noticed Gwen waiting off to one side so he stepped outside the door and motioned with his head, showing his handcuffs.

"What's happening?" she asked, looking past him at the two men inside.

"I think Jack is not feeling well, the electrical energy has scrambled him a bit" Ianto supplied, "He has just told Owen I will be on house arrest here in the hub for now. Are you happy with that?"

She frowned as she looked at him, "I don't know."

"Protocol is either a bullet to the head, retcon or cold storage." Ianto said calmly.

"I see" she frowned and looked into the room again, seeing Owen flashing Jack's eyes with the small penlight.

"Jack is obviously still not well. As second in command, you have the power to decide in his stead." Ianto smiled reassuringly, "Clause 32 subsection D of the Code of Conduct states that the SIC can take control if the commander is altered or injured."

"Right" Gwen straightened up and eyeballed him.

"If you put a bullet in my head you would have to clean it up and Jack may have meant the whole, forgiveness thing" Ianto pointed out, his eyes wide with fear.

"Well, I don't like the idea of putting you in a drawer" she frowned.

"Thank you, I'm claustrophobic, the thought of a coffin … I mean drawer … God Gwen, I don't know anymore." Ianto's face crumbled and he started to cry. "I just want the hurting to stop."

"Oh pet" she sighed softly, leading him up to the main hub where Tosh was waiting.

"Well?" Tosh asked nervously.

"Owen is seeing to Jack; seems he's not feeling well. Get me some retcon, could you?" Gwen said calmly, "I'm implementing Clause 32 subsection D of the Code of Conduct. I'll take Ianto to a holding cell."

As Tosh watched them heading down to the cells she frowned softly and repeated the clause, turning to type it into the computer.

She had never heard of it.


	13. Chapter 13

13

Tosh was waiting when Gwen came back up.

"What?" Gwen asked.

"Clause 32 subsection D of the Code of Conduct" Tosh recited, "How did you know that?"

"Ianto told me" Gwen shrugged as she took a seat.

"Why?" Tosh sat with a frown, "Why give you control? You're not second in command, Owen is."

"What?" Gwen huffed, "I replaced Suzie. She was second in command so I am."

"It comes down to seniority." Tosh explained, "Owen has been here the longest so he is automatically SIC. You are junior, even Ianto is senior to you."

"Oh my god" Gwen gasped, "So why did he let me retcon him?"

"Because he wanted to forget" Jack said as he came up and sat heavily in a chair.

"So, what will happen now?" Gwen asked, still horrified.

"He will wake up in the morning. We will tell him that Lisa died and he told us. We cleaned everything up and he was so upset that he went to sleep in the cell" Jack said calmly, instinctively guessing the direction of the game, "Owen will confirm that he has amnesia from the shock and we will all move on. We will tell him that we forgave him and are all so bloody sorry that she didn't get the help he was trying to get for her."

"Oh god" Gwen said as she brought her hands to her mouth.

"I think this is a telling lesson to us all" Jack said sadly, "What we would do for love. We can be angry; we can place blame or we can try to understand the level of commitment here. Think of one you've loved enough to risk everything for."

Jack looked at Owen and knew he was thinking of Katie, weighing it up and he nodded.

"Tosh?"

Tosh looked down as her own past reminded her of the power of love.

"Gwen?"

"I don't know Jack" she sighed, "Is anyone worth an entire world?"

"I don't know Gwen" Jack threw back, "I wonder if the right person would be worth an entire universe."

Jack headed wearily to his office as he considered the revelations of the past few hours.

A cyberwoman in the hub, a Welshman who wasn't one at all, a retconned man who was actually immune to retcon by his own admission and most dangerous of all … a Holmes in control of the game.

Jack sighed as he climbed down the ladder to his quarters, thinking he was getting too old for this.

The warm body waiting was not expected, or unwanted and Jack snorted softly as he sank into the pillows and the embrace of his enigma.

Jack closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep as Ianto rubbed his back softly, considering this weird turn of events.

The game had changed.

.

.

.

 **So ends Part 1 … part 2 will begin shortly … still wanna play? I'm not done messing with you yet!**


	14. Chapter 14

OK people, part II is now up and running ….

Hold on to your seats, I'm gonna shake things up a bit.

If you think you know what's happening … think again.


End file.
